In my humble opinion, George Costanza (Seinfeld) is the greatest sitcom character of all time. And naturally, the actor that plays George, Jason Alexander, is my favourite sitcom actor (and probably TV actor) of all time. And so when I found out that Jason Alexander’s Comedy Spectacular was returning to Sydney, I didn’t hesitate to read more

I was one of those millions of kids around the world who was awestruck and inspired from watching the Dream Team — the first US Olympic basketball team featuring NBA players — obliterate their opponents at the 1992 Barcelona games. Oh sure, I didn’t quite make the NBA like Dirk Nowitzki or even Pau Gasol, read more

‘What the heck?’ I hear you say. That’s what I said at first too. Jiu Xi Yan Shu (direct translation: Misty Trees by Nine Streams) is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Hangzhou, but apparently not a lot of tourists know about it — or so we were told by our taxi read more

The first Iron Man was an instant classic and one of the best superhero movies of all time. The sequel, Iron Man 2, bombed because it thought it could just take the successful template of the first film and make it bigger and louder (like what Michael Bay did for the Transformers franchise). So it’s read more

Movie Art Rewind: The Dark Knight & Chronicle

Fellow movie fanatic and Sydney artist Hubert Widjaya recently crafted two artworks based on two excellent movies I’d like to share on this blog. It also provides an opportunity to look back at my reviews of these films to see if my thoughts have changed.

First up, 2008’s The Dark Knight, one of the few films in recent years I saw twice at the cinemas. I didn’t start this blog until 2009, so all I did back then was post my short Flixter review.

I gave the film 4.5 stars out of 5 at the time, but in retrospect, The Dark Knight should have been a 5-star film. I gave the sequel and the third film in Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, 5 stars, but in truth the ratings probably should be the other way around. Nothing against Rises, which despite its flaws is an epic film in its own right and a brilliant conclusion to the series, but The Dark Knight has that rare “classic” quality and will go down in history as one of the best superhero movies of all time, and probably in the top 3.

Of course, one of the reasons why the film will forever be remembered is because of the Oscar-winning performance of the late Heath Ledger as the Joker. I still remember when everyone scoffed at the idea of the young Aussie playing a role once made famous by Jack Nicholson, but now when people speak of the character Ledger will likely be the first actor to pop into their heads.

The first artwork from Mr Widjaya, naturally, is that of Ledger as the Joker, from a scene that demonstrates his psychotic personality perfectly.

By Hubert Widjaya

The second is a more recent film, Chronicle, from 2012. For me, someone who normally despises “found footage” films, Chronicle was a pleasant surprise — in fact it was probably one of my surprise hits of the past year. Unlike other superpower films, Chronicle had a strangely realistic feel to it. I mean, come on, what do you think a bunch of immature kids who gain crazy powers would do? Try and save the world or use it for fun and selfish gains?

I have Chronicle 4 stars out of 5 when it first came out and I stand by that rating after watching it for the second time on DVD. Intriguing film, and a very underrated one. My full review can be found here.

Mr Widjaya’s artwork is based on one of the more frequently-used scenes from the film — when our protagonist/antagonist Andrew (played by Dane DeHaan), tries to develop his incredible powers by practicing on scrapped cars in the junkyard.

By Hubert Widjaya

Anyway, Mr Widjaya recently completed a piece for Quentin Tarantino’s latest, Django Unchained. I hope to share that in my review of that film shortly.